As is known in the art, the growth of carbon nanotube material in the area of electrical circuit and thin film thermal structures has been limited by insufficient methodologies to create a diverse set of complex shapes coupled with small dimensions (˜mils). Hand or manual cutting is tedious and cumbersome and cannot fabricate the exacting dimensions needed. Laser cutting is viable but produces structures one at a time which then must be transferred to the platform. The economy of scale gained by high volume manufacturing as observed in the circuit board industry is not gained.
Etching of CNT materials has taken place at the nano-dimensional level where single and small bundles of CNT tubes are oriented in microcircuit configurations to form electronic parts. Typical acid or base etchants used in semi-conductor processing as well as ozone have been used to fabricate electrical circuitry at the microscopic component level (<microns). Antenna circuit structures have also been fabricated by manual cutting and laser cutting. Examples of mm to meter size structures have also been reported.
In accordance with the present disclosure a method is provided for pattering a carbon nanotube material comprising electrochemically removing unmasked portions of the carbon nanotube material’
In one embodiment, a method is provided for etching Carbon Nanotube (CNT) sheet material for electrical circuit and thin film thermal structures. The method includes: forming a mask on a sheet of electrically conductive CNT material; and electrochemically removing unmasked portions of the CNT material.
In one embodiment, the method includes bonding removed CNT material to a substrate.
In one embodiment, the mask is removed from the CNT electrochemically.
In one embodiment, the electrochemical removing of the CNT includes placing the masked CNT material in a solution and applying an electrical potential between the solution and the electrically conductive CNT
In one embodiment, the mask is electrically conductive.
In one embodiment, the solution is molten sodium nitrate.
In one embodiment, the solution is concentrated sodium hydroxide.
The details of one or more embodiments of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.